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| Gordon Whirry at the Gibson Reservoir Overlook |
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| Gordon hiking the Gibson Reservoir Trail |
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| Mark Hertenstein and Gordon Whirry approach the top of Mortimer Ridge in deep snow |
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| Mark Hertenstein is awed by the views on top |
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| My 70th Birthday portrait |
With such splendid weather on Friday I did it a day early this year and the climb was a spectacular way to celebrate my 70th.
This wasn't a major climb, but gorgeous beyond belief.
It was to a high point on the ridge between Mortimer and Big George gulches in the Bob Marshall Wilderness country adjacent to the Gibson Reservoir on a steep west facing and cliffy 1,500 feet rise.
It was relatively cloudless, blue sky that contained some haze we figured came from agricultural field burning.
While we passed isolated snow patches on the way up, there was a solid covering of deep snow at the top.
The advantage of this climb was the 360 degree mountain views.
The still-deep snow made the views even more impressive.
We could clearly see the White Ridge to the west with its Prairie Reef and Slategoat Mountains deep in the Bob. To the north the high point was Arsenic Peak. To the east, Castle Reef, and to the south, Sawtooth.
Below us was Gibson Reservoir mostly covered in a shimmering emerald ice above a drawn down pool that exposed naked hillsides. We figure the snow melt from this record snow year will soon fill the lake.
I am still not at full hiking capacity, although I seemed to have recovered from the dizziness I suffered on Wednesday's climb of Mount Chisholm. But the effects of the dizziness caused me to be hesitant as we descended the steep hillside into Mortimer Gulch.
On top we enjoyed the views as we lunched and I noticed that it had been visited recently probably hours before we got there by a grizzly who left signature long-nailed paw prints.
It was nice to be in the Front for my birthday. The last two were in Vienna, Austria and Zagreb, Croatia.
Good to be home.
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